A Tale of Two Boroughs
by L.ithJayhawk
Summary: When Annalise comes to New York, she's looking for a new home and a fresh start. What she finds are the leaders of the two most powerful newsie boroughs. Will one girl tear down the unity of the newsie strike? 8TH CHAPTER UP!
1. 0: Author's Notes and Disclaimer

AUTHOR'S NOTES AND DISCLAIMER  
  
This story takes place before and during the events of the movie. you just don't see them because the movie's focus is the strike itself. ;) or that's what I want you to think. Sorry if things start getting a little funky. this is my first attempt at Newsies fan fiction and I'm doing the best I can with accents and characters, with the help of my good friend Melody/Brownie.  
  
Also, I sadly don't own any of the real characters from the movie.. but Annalise/Drifter IS mine, so no touchy! :P As is the storyline. *nods and points to head* it came outta here. 


	2. 1: Bright Lights, Dark Nights

CHAPTER ONE  
  
As she stepped off of the gangplank and onto the docks, all the girl could do was stare. Big busy streets, big busy buildings, gleaming steel and glass everywhere. Carriages and pedestrians everywhere you looked; children playing in the streets; people selling fruit, fabric, jewelry, anything. Annalise didn't think she had ever seen so many people in her life. Different faces everywhere. The young, the old, the tough and the crips. She gaped at the massive crowds, turning on her heels, trying to take in everything at once. The sights, the sounds, the scents and smells of the busy city.  
Others from the ship rushed around her, pushing past her, some shooting the young, blonde-haired girl glares as they rushed off to wherever they were destined. She was swept up in the rush of the crowd, clutching her bag to her, still staring wide-eyed around her. How was she going to find anything in New York when it was so big? She followed varying crowds through the streets, and their members dispersed one by one. Some dropped off at stores, some, the true New Yorkers, went into houses and apartments, and still others rushed off to the theatres and factories. Soon, Annalise found herself quite alone where not a half hour before, she was surrounded by what seemed to be every member of the human race.  
She walked along the streets, looking for someone to ask for directions, somewhere to sleep. The street signs changed from unfamiliar to missing entirely as the section of the city she was in became more and more run-down. Fear slid its icy fingers down her spine as she looked up and around, only to discover the sun was setting and she was nowhere near a place she could stay the night. Where had her mum said to go? She couldn't remember, but what she described didn't sound anything like any of the places around here. Her footsteps became faster as she grew more frantic, her satchel swinging heavily at her side.  
A tall, shadowed figure that suddenly stepped in her path made her stop, startled. "Hello?" she called out nervously, taking a tentative step closer to the shaded form of the man.  
"Hey baby." came the mockingly purring reply, and the shadows before her multiplied as more men stepped from the alley, advancing on her. Annalise, alarms ringing in her head, backed away slowly, then as terror gripped her, turned to flee the gangsters, but a crushing grip came around her midsection. She kicked and struggled to get free, catching a fleeting glimpse of the man who held her, a burly, unshaven and beery smelling fellow, in the process. "Hand it ova', girl!!" her captor barked, an realizing they were really after her purse, clutched it to her, tears springing to her eyes as the man roughly shoved her back into the wall of a nearby alley. All the possessions she had left, her little bit of money, everything was in there. She screamed something she was too stressed out and terrified to make out at him, kicking his shins, her heavy dress, now ripped, rustling and becoming ever dirtier and more destroyed. The circle of men around the struggling pair laughed and started making cat-calls.  
"Fight 'im, little goil, fight 'im! You won't live t'see tomorrah!"  
"Is that all y'got?!"  
"Think youse can beat us, blondie?"  
Tears of pain and frustration streaming down her face, she shoved against the man with all her strength, and to her surprise he moved back. Lifting her foot once more, hot with anger, she sank her hardest kick right into the man's crotch. The thug let out a surprised gasp of air, falling away from her. Desperate, she darts away from him, not noticing the fist flying towards her head until it hit her. The last thing she saw as she staggered dizzily around then collapsed back against the wall was the band of rogues running off with her bag thrown over one man's shoulder.  
Then everything went black. 


	3. 2: A Meeting and a Dissapointment

CHAPTER TWO  
  
"'ey youse!"  
The voice, harsh, demanding, made her wince. Her head was throbbing, and her body ached all over, freezing cold from staying all night in the open air. Groggily, Annalise opened her eyes to find herself staring directly at a gold-tipped cane that was pointed at her, the end barely an inch from her face. Her green eyes traveled the length of the black cane, over the bare forearm and rolled up sleeves of the boy holding it, across his red suspenders and a key hung around his neck to his face. It wasn't a very long trip, as he wasn't very tall; Annalise judged him to be maybe a inch, perhaps even two, taller than her. He looked young, maybe 15, about the same age as her, and had stormy grey-blue eyes set in a boyish face and blonde hair. His expression was something like suspicion, though his lips curled upwards in a slight smirk. Two other boys, both heavily muscled and taller than him, stood at either shoulder.  
"I said what'cha dooin' 'ere?"  
"I. I was." she stammered, intimidated by his superior stature and voice, his aggressiveness in questioning. She starts to pull herself to her knees, but before she could finish her answer he replies,  
"Don't'cha know that if youse gonna sleep in an alley you sleep at th'back of 'em? You tryin' to freeze?"  
She still gaped at him, stunned at the harshness of New York people. Where was the friendliness her mother had talked about, the ability of the New Yorkers to welcome you with open arms? "No. No, I didn't know.."  
He gives her a strange look as she got to her feet, swaying slightly, but steadied herself on a nearby barrel. Now she could see some thirty-odd more boys standing behind him, all gazing at her with an aloof curiousness. "Well now you do. So don't let me catch youse sleepin' on tha curb no more." With that final 'gracious' sentiment he turned, muttering something that sounded like 'goils.' to his henchmen, sticking the cane through a belt loop, and strode off, the motley crew he apparently lead following.  
Annalise stared after them, tempted to follow to at least have company, but after the way they had treated her, decided it probably wouldn't be the best idea to aggravate them anymore. Sighing, she headed in the opposite direction. She needed a place to stay. And without an money, she couldn't find a place to stay. So what I'm really looking for is a job, Anna thought to herself as she peered at the name plates on the buildings around her. A construction company, a forge, an alehouse. none of them sounded like places for a girl to be working. One building caught her attention. It was an art shop, run down but there were still paintings displayed in the. Curious, she mounted the steps and pulled open the door, instantly greeted by an elderly man's voice yelling in a wheezing tone, "Get out!! Get out!! We don't need beggars in my shop!!"  
"But I was looking for a job - "  
"We don't have any!! Especially not for the likes of you!"  
"But- but. I can draw! And paint!" she protested, hovering at the door, wincing as the shop owner shouted at her once more.  
"Stupid girl! We don't make art here! Just sell it! And I don't need any help from children!" he said before slamming the door in her face. Discouraged, she hopped off the steps, giving the building a final backwards glance before trudging on to see what else she could find.  
Several attempts later, Annalise found herself back in the same alley she had started the day in. None of the other shops and factories had been any more helpful than the art shop. Some of the owners gave her a kind word, must most just turned her away as the old man had. Now she was cold, hungry, and tired from walking. She flopped down on the filthy ground at the entrance to the alley, her rumpled dress folding beneath her, then for some reason the words of the blue-eyed boy came to her, and she got up again, dusting herself off, and retreated to the back of the alley. Here she found that although it wasn't any more comfortable than where she had spent the previous night, it was indeed warmer, and she curled up into a ball, exhausted, and promptly dropped off to sleep. 


	4. 3: Finally, a Break

CHAPTER THREE  
  
Now she heard voices cutting through the peaceful dark and quiet. Shouted phrases, conversations, half-serious fights. even a snatch of an Irish-sounding tune. And there was the sound of what had to be a thousand feet passing by. Annalise opened her eyes and looked toward the entrance to the alleyway. The racket was coming from a group of shabbily dressed boys, and her first instinct was to shrink back into the shadows. Strangers in New York, she had found in the short bit of time she had spent there, weren't all that eager to meet you or even to be nice to you at all. Especially the boys. Yes, it was better to stay here where she was safe until they were gone.  
Green eyes gaze hesitantly at the flock of young men making their way through the dirt streets, waiting for them to pass before she came out. Towards the back of the line, however, she noticed something familiar about one of the boys' face. Staying quiet and crawling forward a bit, she got a better look and found that he was, indeed, one of the guys with Black-Cane Boy from yesterday. The end of the group passes her, then the stragglers, and Annalise stands, leaning out of her shelter to get a better look. Studying the group more intently, she found at the front of the group a blonde-haired boy of small stature. She could only see his back, but the gold tip of a cane sticking out from the crook of his arm made her sure it was the same boy. Black-Cane Boy. (Though she silently thought this wasn't a very good name, as he didn't actually use the cane. it seemed to be more of a show of stature. But she didn't know enough about him to think up a better title.) Annalise, still watching as the group rounded a corner and disappeared behind a building, wondered where they could be going; what they might be doing.  
What if they're a gang? some part of her mind whispered, and she shuddered. After what had happened her first night here, she was terrified this might be true. After all, they had been very tough and strong looking, with rough accents and loud voices, just like the group of men who had mugged her. And so, while she was curious about their activities, she chose to once again head off in the other direction.  
  
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The second day was no better than the first. Though she headed down different streets, there were still no jobs to be found for a girl her age with no factory experience. They didn't want to take the time to train her, some said. Others looked like they just didn't have the money to spend on another set of wages. Frustrated with it all and maddeningly hungry, she flops down on the curb under a threatening sky, eyeing the passerby with something close to a glare in her agitation. She couldn't see how anyone made a living in this cold, cruel place, didn't know where to turn for -  
And then there it was. Lying on the ground some five feet in front of her. A whole dollar bill. Surprised, Annalise stared at it in wonder. If she had that dollar. she could buy herself some food. Hell, she could buy food for a week. Her stomach growled its agreement and her fingers itched, longing to reach out and take it. But even as she shifted around restlessly, her green eyes moved to the others on the street. Any one of them could have dropped it. What if it belonged to them?  
Oh well! A voice in the back of her head whispered. You need it more than they do. and anyways, they weren't nice to you, so why are you acting like Miss Goodie-Two-Shoes towards them?! With a sudden passion bordering on frenzy, Annalise leapt up, her now filthy blonde hair flying behind her as she sprung forward and snatched the dollar out of the dust.  
A sudden clap of thunder from the darkened sky made her cry out in alarm, and in a sudden panic about what she had done, she turned tail and ran. She sprinted all the way back to what she was starting to call 'her' alley as fast as her legs and dress would allow in the pouring rain. As she darted around the corner she saw a blur that was a group of boys running the other way, towards the docks. Someone (it sounded like Black-Cane boy, but she couldn't be sure) was yelling at them to 'get their asses back here' because 'youse still goit woik t'do!'  
Finally sheltered by the roof overhanging the dark alleyway, Annalise stared at her treasure, the crumpled dollar clutched in her fist. A certain rush filled her mind, knowing she had stolen it, but it was mixed with horror at the wrongness of her actions, fear she would somehow be caught.  
At least she'd get to eat. 


	5. 4: Manhattan Bound

CHAPTER FOUR  
  
The next morning she woke bright and early, surveying the small pile of belongings she had acquired last night after the storm. Each item she picked up as she came to it, knowing it was all she had, looking at them briefly, sadly, before setting them down. A cheap comb and a pair of ribbons for her hair, a needle and a tiny spool of thread she had used to patch up her dress in a rather inexperienced manner. A bit of bread and a purse to put it all in. That had been the most expensive item, but nonetheless necessary. Anna didn't want to leave any of her things in the alley, for fear they would be stolen. What she had left of her money was inside the purse, and she pulled it out. Two nickels. Less than she had thought, just enough to buy bread for two days. She bit her lip; there had to be some way to make a living in New York. How did all those shop owners manage to do it?  
A sudden commotion out in the street caused her to lift her head. It was those boys again. They passed by three times yesterday, and now curiosity got the better of Annalise. She hurriedly swept her belongings into the purse, darting out of the alley and into the midst of the clusters of noisy young men that crowded the street. She stood on her tiptoes, looking around for that blonde boy. he should be somewhere towards the front.  
"Hey goilie! What ch'oose doin'?"  
Anna turns, looking at the boy who had spoke, a broad-shouldered and unfortunate-looking lad of maybe 16, wearing an outfit of pants, and undershirt, suspenders and a cap as many of his companions were. "I - I'm looking for -"  
"Whatt've'we got heah?" a familiar voice called out, the length of a black bane used to shove the tall boy aside and make room for its owner. For a moment the leader's blue eyes sparkk with recognition as he saw her, then return to the arrogant expression he usually was wearing when he passed. "Youse again? Where'd you come from?!"  
His arrogance was slightly annoying, and she crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. This boy obviously had no manners, so why should she waste hers? "Same place I was last time."  
Black-Cane Boy smirks. "There? Still?"  
Her reply was exasperated, "You need to have money to stay anywhere else! And I don't have any!" This only seemed to amuse him more.  
"Dat's life, sweet-pea." he sneered.  
Annalise wasn't giving up that easily. "Well, you've got money!" This was obvious to her from the state of his clothes and the fact his gang always was headed the same direction every night, meaning they had somewhere to stay.  
"Yeh? Well I woik! You could 'ave some moneys, too, if you woiked."  
She throws her hands up in the air agitatedly, too fed up to take noticed of the way the blonde-haired kid was smirking and some of his followers whistled at her before laughing. "I've been trying to find a job! No place will have me!"  
Black-Cane Boy merely shrugged, unmoved. "So? What d'ya want me t'do 'bout it?" He turns his back on her, starting to walk away, but she trotted after him, putting a hand on his shoulder and pulling back, not finished with him yet. He turns around to face her again, his face pulled into a funny expression, like he was trying to suppress a smile.  
Shaking her head slightly as she spoke, she questioned him, "Well, how do you earn money?"  
One of the boys in the back lets out some braying laughter and called out, "Whatt're you, stupid? We's newsies!"  
When her eyes moved back to the boy with the cane his expression was cold again, and he echoes, "Yeh. We's newsies." He lifts a hand and pushes hers off his shoulder like she was infected. "Now don't touch."  
Offended, she shot back, "Well what if I wanna be a newsie, too?!"  
He stares at her incredulously, wondering how he got stuck doing this, his eyes flickering through an amazing range of shades of blue, obviously thinking. For a moment Annalise thought she finally had him, then he fired back, "We don't need no goils - espes'lly smart-mouths who don't even know what a newsie is!"  
Her face flushed in embarrassment, what Black-Cane had said was true, but she still refused to give in to him. "Well whatever it is, I bet I can do it twice as good as any boy!"  
He shakes his head, just wanting to be able to go now, or he was going to be late for work. His whole group was going to be late. Giving the staring masses a look and a gesture, he sends them on their way, and as they passed around the pair he said to her, "Newsies sell th'papers. We don't got room f'r you, but youse can try Manhattan. Jacky-boy might take in a goil."  
"Manhattan?" she repeated hopefully, momentarily forgetting her anger at the blonde boy. "Where's -"  
"Across th'bridge, doll-face." And before she could thank him, he had gone, moving off amidst his band of boys.  
Manhattan it was, then. 


	6. 5: First Encounter

CHAPTER FIVE  
  
Annalise looked after them for a while, thinking things would have been much simpler if she had simply been able to follow along with them. But maybe that kid was right. He did have a lot of other boys with him. And in a business where selling was everything. she guessed they couldn't afford too much competition. Turning around, she spots the bridge that towered over the neighborhood she was in. Wouldn't be hard to find her way there. It was easily the biggest thing around. She set off with high hopes, finally an opportunity to make something for herself in New York City.  
  
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It took longer to get to that bridge than she had thought it would. Crossing it was no short walk, either. She searched her new surroundings with eager eyes, but to her dismay, it didn't appear much different than the place from which she had come. Annalise sighed, and approached a man in a shop door nearby. "S'cuse me. S'cuse me, sir. is this Manhattan?"  
The portly man squinted at her over his broom, pausing in his sweeping long enough to give her a slightly offended look and snap back, "'course it's Manhattan!! Where'd you think you was, goil? London?"  
Shocked and frightened by his unprovoked outburst, the blonde girl stumbled back, mumbling a 'sorry sir' before she quickly walked to the next block. Her thoughts were jumbled, tired. And disappointed at what she had found. People here were no different than back across the bridge! The agitation at this thought, and her fatigue brought her to flop down on the curb, and quickly jump up as a carriage rattled by, nearly taking off her foot, the horse shying and driver cursing at her as she backed up against the brick building behind her, green eyes wide. No different. Same mean faces, same rude voices.  
Still, she thought, still I have to find somewhere to stay.. and hopefully a job. Well, really a job. unless I want to keep sleeping on the streets. So Anna had no choice but to trust that blonde kid, Black-Cane Boy, and hope the newsies here would take her in.  
She begins to wander down the streets aimlessly once more, half- hoping one would just run up to her and offer her a job and a bed to sleep in. Ha. Like that would happen. If I'm gonna get anywhere I have to find one of these newsies. but how?  
The thought struck her a second later. Papers. They sell papers, that boy had said. What else? What else had he said.  
Goils can't be newsies. So they were boys. Boys with papers. That helped her out a little. All she had to do now was keep looking.  
And she didn't have to go far. As she walked another two blocks down, there was a crowd of people further down the street surrounding two boys who were standing on boxes and shouting things she couldn't make out at their audience. One of them was waving around what appeared to be a stack of newspapers. Her breath caught in her throat, and she sped up the pace of her walk, moving quickly two the outside of the murmuring crowd as the boys shouted headlines into their ears.  
"Fiah in th'mayah's howse! Read all about it!"  
"Railroads missin' all-ah dere engineers! Train company in an uproah! Only in da Woild! can't get it in no othah pape!"  
She couldn't see them. She had to get closer. She wedged her skinny frame in between two middle-aged gentlemen in front of her, wading her way into the knot of people. She pushed her way through, earning a fair share of dirty looks, and normally she wasn't so pushy, but this was desperate. Tripping over an elderly man's cane, she breaks into the front of the crowd, and looks up at the two boys there.  
They were no less ragged than the army Black-Cane Boy led, but her immediate impression was that they were definitely friendlier. Both were grinning madly for some unknown reason, laughing at each other as money and papers changed hands all around her, over her head even. One boy was blonde, and while his eyes were brown, a patch hid the left one. Some of her fellows in the crowd seemed to think this was some kind of scam, while others told them to lighten up. That boy was wearing a faded orange shirt and a vest that had obviously seen better days. Both had the same style hats on and short pants, but the blonde boy's friend had a grayish shirt to go with his vest. He was younger than his friend, and that one had brown hair, curly brown hair. But from this angle she couldn't really see his eyes, the sun must have been blinding him, because it was hitting his eyes in a way that made it impossible to be able to discern a color for them.  
Annalise waited. And waited. And waited some more. The number of their papers was dwindling, as was the interest of their crowd. People had begun to drift away, until finally it was just the two of them and her. They both jumped down off the crates they had been selling from. They were pleased with their selling, and didn't notice her at first.  
"Looky here, Blink! We'se almost moved da whole lotta 'em! Youse only got." the curly-haired boy said, then thumbs through his friend's remaining papers. ".only t'ree left!"  
She stepped forward. "Excuse me?" Three eyes immediately zoned in on her as the boys looked over their shoulders, staring at her for a moment in a comical way before the one with the eye patch grins and asks charmingly, "'ey. Youse looking' t'buy a pape?"  
She shakes her head. "You. you are newsies. right?" They turned to her fully now, giving confused glances to each other before nodding. It had been a stupid question, but Annalise had wanted to make sure. To be completely sure. "Do you know Jack?"  
The blonde boy, whom the other had called Blink, glares at her with slight suspicion. His friend, however, brightens and replies in what could only have been described as a cheery chirp, "Yeah! We knows Jack!"  
'Blink' echoed him, the same suspicion in his eye in his voice. "Yeah, we know 'im.why?"  
"Well, I was over. across the bridge." she started nervously, realizing for what wasn't the first time she didn't know where she had been. 'Blink' interrupted her.  
"In Brooklyn?"  
"Yeah, I guess so.. but anyway, I didn't have a place to stay over there. some men had stolen my purse. my other purse, and the money in it."  
The curly-haired boy breaks in, his face suddenly turned downcast. "That's Brooklyn for ya. So how'd you find heah?"  
"A boy told me to come here. A newsie."  
The older of the two questions, his voice still laced with a vague suspicion, "Why'd he tell youse t'go heah?"  
"I said I needed a job. That I wanted to be a newsie, like he was. Like you guys are."  
'Blink''s partner furrowed his brow in confusion. "Goils ain't newsies."  
She sighed. "That's what he said, too. But I'm desperate. I don't got anywhere else to go, so he told me to go find Jack and talk to him about it. He said there were too many newsies over there."  
"Well, dere's lots heah, too."  
The curly-haired kid suddenly reached up and smacked his partner across the face. "Don't be mean. Let's take 'er to Jack!"  
"Yeah, okay. To Jack.." he pauses, suddenly regretting his consent. "But we still got papes t'sell!!"  
"Aaaahh, youse only got t'ree! And I've got two. Not much, Blinky."  
His friend protests as she looked on quietly. "Dat's five cents! Ten papes tomorrah!"  
Annalise, to stop the fighting. and maybe get on the blonde boy's good side, "I can wait."  
He looks to her, suddenly fighting not to smile. Looks like that plan had worked. "Okay."  
His friend grinned. "We'll try t'be fast."  
So they set off, the two boys leading the way, waving their papers and shouting out headlines. Annalise dragged behind, tired and partly dreaded seeing this Jack. maybe he wasn't that bad, like these two. But then again. maybe he was like Black-Cane Boy.  
She hoped not. 


	7. 6: Tibby's

wOOt! My first shout-outs! Allrighty!! Let's see if I c'n do this!!  
  
Brownie/Melody: First of all, to youse, because youse my buddie! teehee. I'm cool. NO. I'M NOT. hehe thanx for all your encouragement meine freundin!! hehe and heah's your favorite jack quote (per'aps) T'ankies for all da reviews! *hands you a bag of animal crackers and whispers* they're the good kind BrokenShells: Augh! long time, yes, I know, but I don't usually do shout outs (does it show?? *looks all around*) but thanks for being a fan from the beginning!! *mwah* sosweet22: Mmmm thankies! I'se so happy. hope you've liked the new chaptahs. ;) dey is just foah youse (ok, you caught me, I'm lyin'. I like to write. *grins*) MiseryLovesCompany: hehe. I know. Spot is so.. Spot-like. But dat's why I luv him. *sighs* Now let's see if I c'n get Jack to be. Jack-like. and the rest of everyone to be like themselves VballChik: wOOt! youse came! I luv you! read moah! maharaja.. (wow. that was supposed to be mwahaha. somewhere along the lines it deteriorated.) VENT!!! Melanie: *gives you a cookie* look, good chill'un.. youse came befoah Molly. *grumbles* shows how into my writing she is.. *pats your head* you'll get it eventually, kid. hell, I'm still woikin' on it. :) pmochizuki: hehe t'anks.. glad people like my story! *ish relieved* but I can't tell yas who she falls for. that'd ruin it. well, kinda. the ending's still a big ol' surprise (even my head honcho Brownie doesn't know. hehe) Alias19: wOOt! go people. I just randomly picked a name. it fell outta me 'ead. whoa. I went British.  
  
By the way, does anyone know how to get the bold an italics and stuff to work in here? I'm posting out of MS Works, so. I'm confuzzled!!!  
  
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CHAPTER SIX  
  
The papers did get sold. And faster than she had thought. Annalise supposed she should have been paying attention to the two boys (The second one she had learned through following them got called 'Mush', though she supposed that had to have been some kind of nickname. Who calls their kid 'Mush'?), as she would be doing this tomorrow if all went well, she found herself too nervous. 'Blink' sold his paper, got his penny for it, and looks towards her and 'Mush'. "C'mon."  
'Mush' jumped forward to follow, and she came soon after that, questioning, "Where're we going?"  
'Mush' gave her a sidelong glance as he hurried along to keep up with his friend. They stepped off a street corner, splashed through the mud to the next sidewalk, and jumped up again before he answered. "To Tibby's. It's a dinah type thing. All us meet up dere when we's done sellin'."  
They turned into an alley and came out into the sunlight on the other side when she spotted the place they were headed for across the street. And she could see lots of boys through the windows in front. Laughing, talking, eating. and some even looked to be playing a game of cards. She had paused a moment to take it in, bust now realized that the two newsies had begun to move off without her. 'Blink' turned around and called, "C'mon, hurry up! Youse gonna get run ovah standin' in th'street gawkin'!"  
Annalise picked up her dirty and sodden skirts and hurried after them, falling in step just as they went through the door.  
The restaurant was in an uproar. If it looked busy from the outside, inside there was nothing less than a deafening roar of chattering and laughter from the congregations at the tables. The card game, she found out, was poker, dealt by a shorter boy who looked to be of Italian descent. He was smoking a cigar and laughing at the others at the table who were losing to him. A group of younger boys in the corner were having a 'duel', shouting loudly and groaning as someone would 'die'. It suddenly grew quiet, though, as one boy yelled over the crowd, "'ey! Whatt're you doin' bringin' a goil in heah!?" All eyes turned to Annalise, staring and suddenly silent, as she shifted uncomfortably. This must be that Jack they were talking about. Face under the brown hair was scowling, and she could catch a glimpse of long pajamas under his day shirt that were either pink or an extremely faded red.  
Mush yelled back, though there wasn't really any need since it was quiet enough to hear a fly buzzing through the air, "She's gotta see Jack! Wheah is he?"  
The sound of the door opening and closing behind her and a voice from a boy she couldn't see answered, "Who'se gotta see me?" Relief flooded her face. So the mean kid in pink wasn't Jack after all. She turned around to face the real leader of the Manhattan newsies, as 'Blink' pushed her forward slightly in a playful manner and answered, "Her."  
"A GOIL!!!" There were several yells of 'Hey, shut up Skittery!' and 'Glum and dumb!' as the newsie who had spoken before was shoved back down into his chair.  
Annalise stared at him as the older boy looked at 'Blink', a slight smirk playing over his features. A red bandana was tied around his neck, and there was a cowboy hat resting against his beck, held on by a cord. He had medium-length brown hair with a hint of a golden coloring present as well, which fit his face perfectly. His eyes were brown as well, and kind, laughing as he glanced over at her and she blushed, suddenly afraid to open her mouth. All that would come out was unintelligible mumbles. Luckily he saved her by questioning 'Blink', a note of scolding in his voice, "An' does "her" gotta name?"  
The blonde haired boy and the one called 'Mush' looked at each other, sheepish grins on their faces, realizing they hadn't ever bothered to ask. "Uhhh. well.y'see Cowboy."  
"It's Annalise."  
The cowboy looked over at her, smiling in a way that was somehow arrogant and trust-capturing at the same time. "Annalise, eh? Well Annalise..." He took her arm without asking and led her to a mostly deserted table in the corner as the other boys looked on with interest. "...step inside my office an' tell me what I'se can do." They sat down at the small table across from each other, a small boy deserting Jack's chair so he could sit down. "So tell me, what brings you heah, Anna?"  
She hesitates for a second, deciding she ought to start at the beginning. "Well, I came off the ship over across the bridge."  
He smiled slightly. "In Brooklyn."  
"Yeah, in Brookyln, I guess, since that's what everyone's been calling it. So I was wandering around looking at everything, and then it got dark..."  
He finished this statement easily. "...an' you got mugged."  
She gazed at him with an odd mixture of adoration, thankfulness, and disbelief. "Well, yeah! How did you know?"  
He leans back in his chair, putting the back of it against the window and shrugs slightly. "Dat's what happens in Brooklyn." The waiter now approached them, seeing Jack had come in, asking if he would like anything. 'Cowboy' looks over at her. "Youse want somethin' to drink?"  
She hated to have him using his hard-earned money on her, but it had been a long time since she had something clean and in a glass to drink. She shifts slightly in the chair. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble."  
"Nah, no trouble. Whatt'll you have?"  
"Just water'll be fine." she says, knowing that if it wasn't free, it wouldn't cost him much.  
"An' a Coke for me." The waiter nods and strides back to the kitchen, stepping over and around groups of boys on the floor. Jack watches him go, then his eyes move back to Annalise. "So what happened after that?"  
"I didn't do much the first couple of days. Just the usual I guess. Looking for a job. I slept in an alley."  
Although sleeping on the streets wasn't a new concept to him, Jack flashed her a concerned look. He didn't think it was right for a girl to be put out like that. "For how long?"  
She momentarily burst out of her shyness, crying, "For three whole nights! It was awful! And no place would hire me, and I didn't have any food..." she whined, too upset over the whole ordeal to even care she was whining.  
Jack cut her off. "So you came to me?"  
"Yeah! Well, no... I ran into this other boy first. He was laughing at me for sleeping in an alley. So I asked him where he got his money for a place to stay and he said he was a newsie, but I couldn't be one with him, so he sent me here and said that you'd."  
"Whoa! Slow down, goil. youse gonna fry me ears!" He laughed, then questioned, "He said I could make you a newsie?"  
"Can you?" Annalise countered hopefully.  
He pauses for a moment, chewing on his lip slightly as he thought, face screwed up. For a moment she thought he was going to turn her down as well. "Uhhh... well, y'see... we ain't nevah had a goil befoah..." He looked at the rapidly fading hope in her eyes and went on quickly, "...but do ya know what t'do?"  
"Sell the papers?" she questioned hopefully.  
He grins at that. "You need some trainin'... but shoah."  
"You'll let me?!" she asked excitedly, nearly jumping out of her chair before she realized she was acting stupid and he'd probably take back what he said. So she calmed herself down.  
He's still grinning, and actually laughs a little at her excitement and surprise. "'coise... ain't gonna make you stahve..."  
"Oh God, thank you so much. you don't know how much this means to me..."  
He holds up a hand to stop her. "No problem. An' one moah thing... 'dis uddah boy... he was short, blonde, gotta black cane wid' him?"  
She nods. Jack sighed and shook his head from side to side, the longish brown hair falling into his face.  
"Dat Spot Conlon's gotta lotta noive." 


	8. Not Quite 7: Newsies NYC

ANOTHER AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hehe. sorry to be such a horrible and blatant advertiser and to trick all yawls into comin' heah (there ARE 4 more chapters on the way! I PROMISE!! I just have to get them typed up!!) but I have a new Newsies RPG that just opened (which means dat most all of the main characters are still available.. hehehe.) It's called Newsies NYC, and I'd appreciate it if you guys would check it out!! Here's the link (you'll have to remove the spaces): http:// www. angelfire. com/ rebellion2/ newsiesnyc/ entrance. html Thanks so much you guys!! Luv from, Da Nameless Wonder 


	9. 7: Meet the Newsies

CHAPTER SEVEN  
  
"Who?"  
"Spot Conlon. Dat guy you ran inta in Brooklyn. He's da leadah of da Brooklyn newsies."  
Annalise nods. "I could tell. But he seemed kind of..."  
"Scrawny? Mean? Yeah, but don' let dat fool yas. He knows what he's doin'... must've da time." Jack nods slightly, then his eyes move out to the other newsies in the restaurant that were staring curiously at them. She hadn't heard of Spot Conlon? Where was this girl from? "So're you ready at meet da uddah guys?"  
Annalise's green eyes swept over the group apprehensively, it was a lot of faces. A lot of boys. She looked back to Jack. "Uhh yeah, I guess so..."  
Jack calls over the chatter of the other newsies, "Heya felas! I want youse t'pay attention!! Dis heah's Annalise'n she's gonna be stayin' wid us! She's gonna be a newsie, awright?"  
A smaller boy in one of the corners questions in a surprisingly deep voice for his age, "A goil?"  
"Yeah, a goil." His voice is firm, settling any dispute before it arose, and he looks at them, a warning in his eyes. "And ya ain't gonna give her no trouble, eithah, ya heah? Any of youse."  
Most of the boys nodded in agreement, some stayed silent. The kid in pink with wild hair was heard muttering to the boy next to him, "Goil bein' a newsie..." There was plenty of curious glances and chatter.  
Jack starts pointing around the room, first towards the two boys who had led her in, who were some of the older ones in the room. "You've already met Mush and Kid Blink..."  
"And dat guy ovah dere wid da dice is Racetrack..." Racetrack grinned and nodded towards her before rolling the dice onto the table as Jack points out the other boys involved in the game. "Dat's Dutchy, and Swifty, Itey, and Pie Eatah..."  
"Who's that over there?" She asked, nodding towards the kid in the pink long underwear, who glared slightly at her.  
"Oh. Dat's Skittery... why?"  
She made a mental note to stay away from Skittery, he seemed to be the one most opposed to her becoming a newsie. But she decided not to tell Jack this, it was better to make as little trouble as possible after he had taken her in off the streets. "Oh. no reason really."  
"Awright... and then there's Snipeshootah, Bumlets's on da table ovah dere, Jake..." Annalise was surprised. One of them actually had a real name instead of a nickname. "...Boots, Snitch, Snoddy..." A boy with a crutch and a rather prominent limp moves forward to greet her, offering a hand to shake.  
"An' I'm Crutchy!" He said excitedly as he beamed and shook her hand.  
  
She couldn't help but smile at him and his enthusiastic manner. "Hi Crutchy." Racetrack gives a yell and jumps up from the table. He had won the game.  
Jack looks over at her. "So youse got all dat?"  
Annalise looks around at the faces in Tibby's a bit bewildered. They expected her to remember all those names right away? "Nooo..." she says hesitantly, looking worriedly to Cowboy, who just laughs. The other boys laugh as well hearing her answer.  
"Don' worry, Anna. You'll loin 'em eventually!" Crutchy reassures her, grinning himself.  
Racetrack struts over to the table, his pockets fat with the winnings from his game. "Heya Jack, you done now? C'n we go home, or ahre we gonna stay heah all night?"  
Jack looks up at him and shakes his head, getting to his feet. Annalise followed suit. "Yeah, yeah... we c'n go now. Keep ya shoit on." He tipped his cowboy hat up onto his head and started toward the door, Anna pressed close behind, and all the other newsies following after. 


	10. 8: Anna Gets a Partner

CHAPTER EIGHT  
  
Luckily, Anna, following Jack closely, was one of the few who got out of the door before the others, in their rush, were trying to go through three or four at a time and getting stuck and angry at each other. Kid Blink and Skittery were tangled together now, and as soon as they wedged out of the door started yelling at each other. Skittery shoved Blink hard. Blink pushed back then threw a punch at Skittery. A ring of newsies immediately formed around the two, and Race's yells could be heard over the crowd, trying to get some gambling going (rather unsuccessfully) on the fight.  
"Oh no. Jack they're going to get hurt!!" Anna said, watching the pair with wide eyes as she stood safely away near an anxious-looking Mush, Crutchy, and Jack. Cowboy didn't stay for long; he made an annoyed growling sound in his throat and headed over towards the circle, muttering something that sounded like, 'Every day.'. Pushing his way through the crowd, he pushed Blink back slightly, then pulled Skittery away and started chewing him out for starting fights. Blink tried to escape the lecture, but Jack caught his shirt and pulled him back in; something could be heard about 'setting a bad example foah da little kids'.  
Annalise, relieved that Jack broke up the scuffle quickly, looked to the two beside her. She studied Crutchy for a moment, then asked, "Crutchy, how did you get hurt?"  
Mush's eyes quickly moved from the fight to her, looking surprised and though she had been quite sure she had asked politely enough, Mush looked... offended, maybe? Crutchy, however, wasn't. he grins and shrugs, answering, "I don't even remembah. Been dis way long's I can remembah!"  
"Oh..." she nodded slightly. "Does it bother you much?"  
"Hardly any!! An' it's a great way to sell papes!!" Was the enthusiastic reply. Jack was approaching now, the others following behind in a big crowd. Mush dropped back to talk with Blink, whom he was apparently very good friends with. Skittery, eternally sullen, was towards the back of the group with a gang of boys she couldn't put names to yet.  
"Should'a let them finish, Jack... I had money on dat fight..."  
"Aww don' encourage them, Race. We got enough fights ta worry about wid da Delanceys."  
"Yeah well can't get any offa dat anymoah. Everyone knows you c'n soak tha Delanceys widout even tryin'..." Race was complaining as him and Jack joined back with Annalise and Crutchy, and Jack started leading the way through a confusing series of streets Annalise could not even hope to remember.  
Jack glanced over towards her several times towards the trip, and finally said, "Yoah gonna need a sellin' pahtner tomorrow..."  
Annalise looked around at the group of boys around them nervously. She didn't know any of them! How could she go around New York with someone she didn't even know? Green eyes look to Jack a bit desperately, she badly hoped he would say she could sell with him. But she was disappointed.  
"I can't sell wid youse." Her eyes widen. "...y'see, usually I'm da one who teaches new newsies how ta sell, but yesterday we had two new boys come in, Les and David, so I've already thrown in wid dem foah a while." He explains, but she doesn't look reassured any by the information. Jack suddenly gets an idea. "Race!"  
"Yeah?"  
"Could ya?"  
"Shoah, I could..." Racetrack gives Annalise a side glance, then looks towards Jack in the same manner. "...but cutting' it a bit close ta Brooklyn, ain't'cha Cowboy?"  
Alarmed, Annalise protests, "I'm not going back there! Everyone was mean! Especially that Spot kid!!"  
Jack raises his hands in a 'don't-shoot-me' gesture, trying to quiet her. "Whoa whoa whoa.. listen, dey know Race in Brooklyn, dey ain't gonna mess wid yas if yoah wid him, awright?"  
Race chuckles a bit. "Me'n Spot got a bit've an agreement you could say..."  
"I don't care! I'm not going!" she protested loudly, getting a few curious glances and whispers from the surrounding mob.  
Jack sighed, stopping for a moment and looking at her, she stopped as well, glaring indignantly up at him. "Look, awright, I gotta go wid Dave. An' I figured you didn' wanna go with someone you didn't know, and Blink'n Mush already sell together, so I picked Race, okay?" She stayed quiet. He had, at least, considered her feelings. But she still didn't want to go back to Brooklyn after what had happened to her there. Seeing this, Jack sighed and continued, "Look, when Davey'n Les are okay to go out on their own, you c'n sell wid me. How's that?"  
It wasn't great, but she didn't see anything better for her to do but agree. "Okay, I'll go with Racetrack for now..." she said a bit reluctantly.  
"Great." Jack answered, starting to walk down the street again. After a moment, Anna follows.  
"Dis's gonna be great, Anna. I c'n teach ya everything' you needta know ta be a newsie... jus' think, foist goil newsie, trained by me!" Race boasts, and she couldn't help but grin at him. "Hey Anna- yoah gonna need a bunk, too, at tha lodgin' howse. Nobody's sleepin' in tha one ovah mine if you wanna-"  
Race was cut off by a firm interjection from Jack. "The bunk under mine's open, too, an' she WILL be stayin' there..."  
Annalise was looking confused by his sudden argument, but Race seemed to understand perfectly, and protested, "Aww Jack c'mon... I didn' mean nuttin' by dat..."  
Annalise finally gets what Jack thought Race had meant by his offer, and she blushes slightly as they come to the door of an old building, dropping her eyes as Cowboy answers, his hand on the doorknob, "We'll see, Race; we'll see..." 


	11. 9: Morning Edition

CHAPTER NINE

The newsies all scrambled up the rather worn-out stairs to a single bunkroom at the top, with a door leading to what Anna guessed was the bathroom. The boys all rush in quite haphazardly, paying her no heed, except for that kid Skittery. For some reason he must have really had a problem with her, because he was making snide remarks about having a 'goil' in the lodging house. Anna, still in the doorway, stares at her surroundings and the noisy, rambunctious boys. Anxiety sweeps over with her, watching them all, followed swiftly by embarrassment. This was not lady-like at all. Jack comes up behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder, and she jumped, turning around to face him.

"Oh! It's only you!"

Jack grinned at her. "Yeah, who'd ya think it was? C'mon…" he steers her over to a bed very near the door they had just come in, which he informed her was his, and she guessed hers as well now. The Manhattan cowboy clambered up onto the top bunk, starting to untie his bandanna, and after contemplating a slight problem, she slips into the bed beneath his. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one to recognize the problem. "Ain't'cha gonna change?" Kelly asked, leaning over from his bed.

Annalise's cheeks flamed, but she managed to glare at him indignantly. The Manhattan leader only laughed. "What? Didn't mean it like _dat_!!!"

Still crimson, noticing the other boys had fallen silent to watch these goings-on, she replies, "Well, I don't have any night things!"

"Oh… hmm…" He looked thoughtful for a moment, then exclaims, "I know wheah we c'n get youse some at borrow!"

Kid Blink interrupts him, whooping, "Medda's!!! Da solution at all feminine problems!!!"

One of the boys, with glasses and dark hair, looks up at him incredulously. "What feminine problems would _you_ know about?!"

Blink, suddenly reconsidering, took a moment to ponder what he had just yelled out. Anna, about ready to die of embarrassment in this horribly strange situation, with such obviously uncultured and unmannered boys, buries her face into the pillow. Luckily, she is saved by banging on the door, and an old man's voice yelling, "That's enough!! Lights out! Get to sleep!!" and all of the newsboys hurried to jump into their beds…

~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~

…Annalise was woken in the morning by the same old man's voice, but this time in the room and a LOT louder than before.

"Get up! UP! Skittery Skittery Skittery SKITTERY!!!" The boy, in pink long johns, his hair tangled wildly atop his head, looks up at him and groans. The old man whirls around. "MUSH! UP!" He walks among the bunks, smacking Race and tapping on… oh, who was that again? Bumlets? Yes, that was it… Bumlets's head. "EVERYBODY UP NOW!!!"

Not wanting the old man angry at her when this was the only place she had to stay, Anna hurriedly leapt out of bed, nearly running into him. Seeing her, he rolls his eyes, whacking Jack in the back. "Cowboy! Cowboy!! What's this, you're bringing girls in here?"

Jack rolled over halfway, looking over his shoulder to see what the man was talking about. Finding only Anna, he replies nonchalantly, "Oh s'just Anna, Kloppman… she's a newsie, too." And promptly rolled back over, pulling the covers up over his head.

Kloppman shakes his head, "Fine, fine…." he gives her an intense stare. "…but no trouble?"

Anna shook her head quickly from side to side, eyes wide, indicating that she wouldn't cause any problems. Seemingly satisfied, the caretaker nods sharply, then yells at Jack, "Now get up!! You've got newsies to lead, PAPES to sell!!!" And goes out of the room, banging the door along behind him…

~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~

Not much later, she found herself following Jack back through the alleys they had been in the previous night, Racetrack at her side and a whole slew of others behind her. But they take a different turn, and Anna turns to Race, questioning confusedly, "Where are we going?"

Race answers simply, "To get papes." Not much else was needed, as the arrived at a gate, and she saw what he meant. On the other side were piles of newspapers being loaded into carts, newspapers being thrown from one boy to the next, then hefted into the wagon, followed by many identical stacks. Jack and a few of the others start teasing the wagon boys on the other side of the gate, until one finally comes to undo the lock and let the newsies in….


End file.
